The natural food for man

What is natural food for man? First, to select our natural food, our observation should be directed to the formation of the organs that aid in digestion and nutrition, the teeth and digestive canal to the natural tendency of the organs of sense which guide animals to their food and to nourishment of the young.

Observation of teeth. By observation of the teeth we find that in carnivorous animals the incisors are little developed, but the canines are of striking length, smooth and pointed, to seize the prey. The molars also are pointed; these points, however, do not meet, but fit closely side by side to separate the muscular fibers.

In herbivorous animals the incisors are strikingly developed, the canines are stunted(although occasionally developed into weapons, as in elephants), the molars are broad topped and furnished with enamel on the sides only.

In the frugivorous all the teeth are of nearly the same height, the canines are little projected, conical, and blunt (obviously not intended for seizing prey but for exertion of strength). The molars are broad-topped and furnished at the top with enamel folds to prevent waste caused by their side motion, but not pointed for chewing flesh.

In omnivorous animals such as bears, on the other hand, the incisors resemble those of the herbivorous, the canines are like those of the carnivorous, and the molars are both pointed and broad-topped to serve a twofold purpose.

Now if we observe the formation of the teeth in man we find that they do not resemble those of the carnivorous, neither do they resemble the teeth of the herbivorous or the omnivorous. They do resemble, exactly, those of the frugivorous animals, The reasonable inference, therefore, if that man is a frugivorous or fruit-eating animals(fruit comprises any part of plant life useful to man. the fruitarian diet referred to by Swami Sri Yukteswarji includes vegetables, nuts, and grains.).

Observation of the digestive canal. By observation of the digestive canal we find that the bowels of carnivorous animals are 3 to 5 times the length of their body, measuring from mouth to anus; and there stomach is almost spherical. The bowels of the herbivorous are 20 to 28 times the length of their body; and their stomach is more extended and of compound build. But the bowels of the frugivorous animals are 10 to 12 times the length of their body; their stomach is somewhat broader than that of the carnivorous and has a continuation in the duodenum serving the purpose of a second stomach.

This is exactly the formation that we find in human beings, though Anatomy says that the human bowels are 3 to 5 times the length of man's body--masking a mistake by measuring the body from the crown to the soles, instead of from the mouth to the anus. Thus we can again draw the inference that man is, in all probability, a frugivorous animal.

Chapter 3, pg(s) 63-65
The Holy Science
Swami Sri Yukteswar